iPhone Int’l Calling Options – AT&T, Packet8, TruPhone
| Canada | Mexico | UK | Japan | China | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| land or cell | land | cell | land | cell | land | cell | land | cell | |
| AT&T LD, no plan | 0.30 | 0.50 | 0.65 | 1.50 | 1.70 | 3.50 | 3.64 | 3.50 | 3.52 |
| AT&T LD, with plan | 0.20 | 0.10 | 0.25 | 0.08 | 0.28 | 0.24 | 0.10 | 0.15 | 0.18 |
| AT&T Roaming, no plan | 0.80 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 2.30 | 2.30 | ||||
| AT&T Roaming, with plan | 0.60 | 0.60 | 1.30 | 1.70 | 2.00 | ||||
| AT&T monthly fee | $4 | $5 | $4 + $6 | $4 + $6 | $4 + $6 | ||||
| Truphone | 0.06 / 0.015* | 0.20 | 0.50 | 0.06 | 0.30 | 0.06 | 0.30 | 0.06 | 0.06 |
| Packet 8 | 0.015 | 0.03 | 0.17 | 0.03 | 0.15 | 0.04 | 0.16 | 0.01 | 0.01 |
* $15/mo for a 1000 min block @ 15¢, use it that month or lose it…
Packet8 advantages
- call anywhere you have cell coverage
- consistently low international rates
Packet8 Disadvantages
- web app is awkward and slow (it has lost track of my registration
multiple times, forcing me to reissue the login URL from another
computer) - no way to edit the web-based address book except from the iPhone web
browser (though you can bring up iphone.packet8.net in OmniWeb if you change the browser type…) - can’t initiate a call from WiFi
TruPhone advantages
- completely avoid high international roaming charges for outbound calls if you can find WiFi access
- app can access iPhone address book
- using WiFi saves your cellular minutes
TruPhone Disadvantages
- must have WiFi
- generally higher long distance charges than Packet8
- can’t use the speakerphone
Common Disadvantages
- No inbound calls
- No SMS support. (Truphone’s 20 cent international SMS plan isn’t
available on the iPhone app.) AT&T, unsurprisingly, has high
international text messaging charges – up to 25 cents outbound, and 20
cents inbound! Their best plan is $10 a month for 100 international
SMS. (Good thing I can send international SMS using the iPhone AIM
client! However, it doesn’t look like my international friends can
respond to the AIM SMS…)
TruPhone recently added a pre-paid bundle for North American numbers
that matches Packet8’s 1.5 cents/min, so the two are equivalent for
calling Canada. Packet8 is by far the lowest for calling China at 1 cent
a minute. Both services have simple billing mechanisms — both only
charge for the calls you make, and neither require a subscription or
monthly fee.
Either will save you tremendously compared to AT&T’s plans to all but a
few countries. As an example, AT&T charges $4 each month for access to
their ‘special’ 19 cent a minute rate to Canada. Using TruPhone or
Packet8, for that same $4, I can call Canada for nearly four and half
hours! AT&T would charge me nearly $88 (+$4) for that same four and a
half hours!
Packet8 Long Distance Charges:
http://mobiletalk.packet8.net/rates.aspx
TruPhone
Long Distance Charges:
http://www.truphone.com/pricing/
AT&T
Roaming Charges:
http://www.wireless.att.com/travelguide/coverage/product_rates_compare.jsp?PIDL=IRSD|IRWT
AT&T
International Long Distance Charges:
http://www.wireless.att.com/learn/international/long-distance/in-the-us.jsp
AT&T
International SMS Charges:
http://www.wireless.att.com/learn/messaging-internet/messaging/international.jsp
Burrito Justice 